Transcript

00:00:01

>> With workers in the so-called gig economy lining up to sue their employers, the Ubers of the world are getting proactive, taking on thorny issues like whether to provide benefits and if their workers should be classified as employees. Reuters has exclusively obtained a draft bill shared by the online home cleaning company, Handy.

00:00:20

It offers a rare glimpse at what the future may look like. Reuters legal correspondent Dan Levine.>> Companies like Uber argue that work is just different now, that workers work flexible schedules and that the old model of employer benefits is just irrelevant for the 21st century. Whereas a lot of labor leaders say that they're really not that different and that workers should be allowed to organize and collectively bargain.

00:00:51

>> The legislation would be the first of its kind in the US and focuses on plans for workers in the state of New York. The number two Democrat in the state's assembly has been meeting with companies in the gig economy as he puts together a bill to introduce early next year.

00:01:05

SEIU, a union which represents thousands of janitors, says employers on average pay about $18,000 a year on health care costs for each employee.>> Under the proposed bill that we obtained, the gig economy companies would contribute far, far less. On the order of maybe $1,000 a year, which is just not nearly as much as unionized workers get for health insurance.

00:01:36

>> Handy and its proponents say the draft isn't a final offer, it's a starting point for discussions.